Speed watched Horatio carefully the next morning at the lab and had to admit that Horatio didn't look like a man who had been as drunk as he had been the previous night. The signs were there, of course, if you knew to look for them. His eyes weren't as bright as they usually were, there was a darkness now surrounding them much like it surrounded the man himself. However, Horatio being Horatio, there was of course an easy way to hide this: his ever present sunglasses spent less time being fiddled with and more time being worn. The lieutenant looked like he had forgotten to shave; there was a faint line of stubble now visible. His walk was off too. There seemed to be less certainty and purpose to his movements as if everything he did required a much greater amount of thought before it could be carried out. The final sign that Speed noted which indicated his boss was in fact feeling the effects of the night before was the coffee he carried around with him throughout the day. They were all caffeine junkies, it was the nature of the job, but today Horatio was taking this need to an extreme.
Horatio for his part tried to keep himself as focused on work as he could but, despite his best efforts, he knew his mind was wandering and the case was not getting his full attention. This only added to his growing sense of guilt. Horatio knew that Speed had been keeping a close eye on him all day, the young CSI had given his boss a once over when he had arrived that morning and the Lieutenant was sure that Speed would have been able to immediately tell he wasn't at his best. The combination of alcohol and an exceptionally poor night's sleep had taken its toll on Horatio. He had awoken later than usual, stiff and sore from a night spent on the couch, and had rushed to get ready for the day ahead.
Sitting with his back to his office door Horatio was staring into space when he felt someone hovering behind him.
"You can come in."
There was some shuffling behind him and then the sound of the door closing. Horatio continued to sit with his back to his desk but turned eventually when he could no longer bear the feeling of Speed's gaze on his back.
"What can I do for you?"
"You can go home," Speed told him.
Horatio sat up straighter in his chair, "Excuse me?"
"Go home. It's late, you've been working all day with what I can only assume is one hell of a hangover and I doubt you got any meaningful sleep last night. Go home and don't do anything stupid."
"Anything stupid? What the hell is that supposed to mean!" Horatio could feel his anger building up and desperately tried to maintain a sense of calm. He knew Speed was worried about him and only trying to help, but that knowledge wasn't helping.
Speed took a deep breath and let it out as a long sigh, "It means don't go for a repeat of last night, coz it's really not gonna help solve any problems." Speed took another deep breath, "Look, I'm not trying to be all over you about this but you and I still need to talk about whatever the hell it is that last night was all about." Speed raised a hand to stop Horatio from jumping in "I know now is not the best time for this. Neither of us is really in any state to have this conversation right now, I didn't exactly get a lot of sleep last night either," Horatio dropped his head and looked guilty. "Please just go home."
Horatio knew Speed was right and decided there was no point in even pretending to fight him on this. So instead he simply said, "OK," and rose from his chair.
"Thank you," Speed said as he turned and headed back towards the door but was stopped but a quiet question from Horatio.
"When would you like to have this conversation?"
Speed turned back to Horatio. "This isn't about me H. We'll have this conversation whenever you want to."
Horatio studied his shoes intently for a several long moments while he summoned his nerve. "Come over Saturday night," this first part had been addressed to his shoelaces but now Horatio lifted his head and made the rest of the invitation directly to Speed, "I'll cook dinner and we can talk." Hints of a shy smile were beginning at the edges of Horatio's mouth.
Speed was slightly shocked by the openness of Horatio's invitation but was glad to see an actual willingness on the other mans part to open up about what was troubling him. "That sounds good. Thank you, Horatio," Speed paused and decided there really was nothing else left to be said tonight. "Good night, H," with that Speed turned and left the office.
